Stranger in a Strange Land
by MessengerOfDreams
Summary: After a freak copter crash, Solid Snake and Otacon find themselves stranded in a place they had almost fatally misconceived- Yoshi's Island.


**A/N Okay, this may or may not be my twentieth fic- by now I have four different fics in progress and none too far ahead. I haven't written Smash Bros in a little while and a ton of ideas landed in my head; however, I still wanna warm up before I, say, do my piece for the contest story, so I am gonna try again. **

**Also, I'm not sure what will be published now and what will be later- I have 3 ongoing fics that I'm currently working on (excluding Strings) but most everything I am trying are chapter fics themselves; therefore should I pursue them all I'd be backed out the arse with fics during my Summer of Free Time and ten oneshots a month. Yeah. Kind of an oxymoron. But I might.**

**But, frankly, this chapterfic had to be done. It just did. **

**Apparently Yoshi is making a cameo in Metal Gear Solid's remake for the 3DS. Now just think about that. With MGS being somewhat connected to Nintendo thanks to SSBB, I'd imagine Nintendo's gonna have their moment in the MGS... but Yoshi. There's literally 40 characters to choose from that'd somewhat fit a MGS game... and they pick Yoshi. What, was Kirby's schedule not open? LMFAO, this is rich.**

**But then I dwelled on it. And dwelled on it. And if you've read Strings, you know what the hell is coming. XD**

**Or who's coming.**

**Ironically, this is sort of a role reversal- instead of Yoshi cameoing in America, Snake's cameoing in Yoshi's Island. **

**Disclaimer- I own nothing, I regret nothing, I let them forget nothing.**

**Let's... yeah. Just be prepared to WTF.**

**oOooOoooOooIooOoooOooOo**

_**Stranger in a Strange Land**_

_**by MessengerOfDreams**_

_**feat. Snake and Melanthe the Yoshi**_

**oOooOoooOooIooOoooOooOo**

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Graceful Landing**_

Snake didn't know why the hell he was going there, of all places. Of all the places he had been sent to, he was well on his way to the Island of Care Bear Stare, or at least pretty damn close. Yoshi's Island was the last place he could suspect anything bad happening. It had hearts and flowers and smiley faces on absolutely _everything, _and he could thank the mission briefing for that. Everyone was happy and friendly, and the music was skippy and upbeat. It was like a freaking animee.

"It's like a freaking anime," he grumbled to Otacon, who flew the helicopter a few thousand feet over the location. "Don't you think you'd be better suited for this?"

He could easily hear Otacon sigh from the pilot's seat. "Hey, I don't make the missions around here," he eased into an amused laugh. "You'll have to send your bitching to the colonel if you don't like this."

Snake nodded despite the fact that Otacon couldn't see him. "Yeah, I suppose I will." Though he wouldn't pester Colonel Campbell with that sort of stuff.

In an effort of reassurance, Otacon called back "Don't worry! This is gonna be a cakewalk! Just get the fat cat, literally, and call it a day."

"I don't think Bowser's a cat," Snake argued with confused curiosity, trying to remember his time in the Smash Tournament.

"I don't suppose you have a better idea?" Otacon quipped back.

"He's got a damn shell."

"There is such a thing as Tortoiseshell cat, actually." Snake groaned at Otacon's quip, as it would inevitably lead to a long winded infomercial about cats. "True, that's not what Bowser looks like, but they have some very intricate marki-"

"Stick to flying the copter," Snake growled, closing his eyes in frustration.

Otacon nervously chuckled as he realized his error. "Ah, well. Like I said, a cake-walk."

"Exactly!" Snake raised his voice in evident frustration. "Don't we have a ton of people less... experienced than me to take care of this? Really, it's not only a waste of resource, but it's rather insulting."

Otacon cracked a dry laugh from the pilot's seat. "So it's a pride issue!" he declared. Before Snake could take offense, his friend steered the subject in a different direction. "Take it easy; you're the only one of us who has any connection to this island or this target. It'd be smartest to send you out."

"...you made that up on the fly, didn't you?"

"...well it makes sense! Give me some credit!" A laugh.

Snake chuckled and let the subject go, using his arms as a pillow to recline against. If Otacon was willing to theorize a reason behind the subject of his whining, he had either let it go too far, or he simply had no reason to complain. It was going to be easy, and then they'd laugh about it later, about kicking Bowser's ass to the stars next to constellation of a raven that was famed around here.

Eyes still closed, he mused out loud "You're right, this would be over before we-"

_THUMP_

Snake opened his eyes, instantly alert but keeping his cool. Casually, he asked "Otacon, what was that?"

"Hell if I know!" Otacon was a bit more fervent than Snake. "Sounds pretty freaky, though, something hitting us from this high up."

"Ah, I'm sure it was nothing," Snake assured him.

_THUMP THUMP THUMP_

"...or not." Snake reached for his gun and strapped on his parachute as Otacon made a quick look around. "I don't get it!" he shouted, riled up. "I don't see anything!"

Otacon's near-panic started to do a number on Snake, and in irritation, he snapped "Hal, relax! It's probably something we can handle-"

_THUMPHUMTHUMTHUHUMUMPMPMPPP_

"Dammit, Snake!" Otacon snapped in frustration. "Stop trying to be optimistic! I think they sense it!"

"They?" Snake sighed at the fearful reverence Otacon spoke of _they _in, as if they were evil skeleton spirits. "Who the hell are _they_?"

"Christ, I don't know, I-" Otacon's defensive rambling turned into silence, silence Snake couldn't even feel thankful for, because his friend was pointing at a swarm just outside the window, just veering in front of the copter.

"Jesus Christ..." even Snake felt a need to cross himself at the sight. It was as if hell itself had been unleashed as the group of skeletal birds dive-bombed into the copter.

"Hal," Snake ordered, recognizing the futility of the situation, "we gotta get the hell out of here."

"Sounds like a plan," Otacon murmured, still darkly mesmerized by the unholy sight. Snake understood Hal's apprehension; he didn't want to even begin to deal with such a dark supernatural force. He didn't sign for that.

Otacon had a parachute on already, being the worrisome person he was, and without much thinking, they opened the trap door on the floor of the copter as the birds thumped against the shell of the copter.

As soon as it was opened, several of the birds flew into the copter, and Snake about slapped both himself and Otacon for their rash thinking. He was trained better than this! But any moment of self deprecation would be interrupted by the attacks of the birds.

Snake took his gun to shoot down the trap door as Otacon tried waving the birds off of his shoulder. The copter rapidly descended down and the birds continued to swarm towards the entrance before Snake fired at a group of them. It didn't take him long to realize that he had accomplished nearly nothing as the bullets bounced off of their skulls, not even leaving a dent.

"Shit."

"Understatement of the fuckin' millenium!" Any attempts to hide his panic fell by the wayside as Otacon was almost covered by the birds. Even someone as collected as he couldn't prepare himself for this. In desperation, he flung himself against the walls, knocking a myriad of feathers off of the group of demonic aviaries.

_Wait... feathers? On a skeleton?_

As the birds fell to the ground, merely walking skulls by now, Otacon allowed himself to breathe out and kicked one of the skulls out of the copter, falling towards the ground helplessly without so much as a screech.

Snake took the liberty of borrowing Otacon's lightbulb as he aimed again at the regrouping birds. "Showtime," he grinned dryly.

Shifting his aim a couple inches to the right, he aimed at the incoming flock not at the skulls, but at the wings. The feathers were the only natural thing on the bird; all to keep it flying. Snake opened fire on the line, and one by one the birds fell, each one finding itself first in line for an unholy preening. They fell silently, not so much as a peep made, as it had been the entire time. It was extremely unsettling.

As the remaining birds escaped, Snake quickly adapted with "Can we save the copter?"

Otacon took a big whiff of the nearby air. "You smell that smoke?" he asked rhetorically. "I'm willing to bet not."

"Just by the smoke?"

"Well, that, and the burning engine."

"Touche."

And with that, Snake allowed himself to fall out the trap door. With a deep breath and a cross in front of a frame, Otacon followed.

Almost instantly he flailed and opened his parachute, and with decent reasoning- he was barely twenty feet above the trees now. He sailed into the forests as he watched the copter crash into the trees about a half-mile away with a frown. Not so much for the copter- although it was a loaner, and that meant a hell of a refund- but for the fact that they were now stuck in god-knows-where with demon seagulls was unsettling at the very bare minimum. He was keeping himself in check, hoping he could keep a clear head. He was Otacon, damnit! He was supposed to be the brains, the guy who knew what to do!

Just keep calm...

_THWOK_

"Motherf..." Otacon held back his inner coronary as he did a 360 to see where that noise came from. He didn't see anything as he flailed in his parachute, so he relaxed as he touched ground. Snake dashed over to his partner, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. However, Otacon hadn't known if Snake had touched ground or not, so he jumped a few inches in the air; successfully restraining himself from jumping several feet as he had desired.

"Good to have you back," Snake quipped with a smile. Otacon sighed with relief and added "Indeed. Although I'm not so sure I want to be _here. _Wherever _here _is."

"I'd assume we were in Yoshi's Island," Snake stated matter-of-factly.

"That's where the map had stated..."

"However, we should take into account that this looks nothing like Yoshi's Island."

"Really?" Spat with sarcasm which Snake didn't try to fight, for he was right. Wherever they had landed was more of a heavy, intense forest, with many lively colors that weren't necessarily jubilant. And as Snake found himself doing a double take to confirm, there were no smiling faces on anything.

"There is always the option that we landed in a different location," Snake reasoned with calculated words. "It doesn't necessarily mean-"

_WHOOSH_

"Damn it!" Even Snake found himself startled by the close to home proximity of the flying object. He allowed himself to look up to see a floating cloud.

He eyed it apprehensively. "Otacon, what do you think? Friend or foe?"

"I'm gonna say foe," Otacon offered.

"What makes you say that?"

"Duck!"

It occurred to Snake what made this object a foe when a spiked mine about the size of a baseball landed just a few inches shy of their backs. Snake gave the object a grimace; in familiar territory, and prepared to deal with the figure in the clouds, still hard to see.

"Flass lo n'arma splosa parcha!" a rough, feminine voice cried in an unfamiliar accent and language.

"What?" Snake called out of habit. "I...don't understand your language!"

"Get the fuck away from the bomb!" was the fierce reply.

"Ah!" Otacon responded lithely, almost instantaneously twenty feet away from the bomb with Snake just behind. "Who the hell was that?" Otacon whispered.

"I don't know!" was the fervent reply.

They watched in a sick relief as the mine exploded in a large ball of fire that covered the space the two of them were in, leaving black dirt in its wake. "Close one," Snake confirmed.

"Now what the hell do we do?" Otacon decided to go ahead and voice the million dollar question. Snake went to get a better glance at the enemy, a strange creature with a green shell and goggles on, resembling a koopa. He held another mine in his hand and wore a smirk of accomplishment.

"We run!"

Before they could even move their legs, however, a strange figure blocked their view of the man in the clouds; a figure who, as Snake could see it better, had a large tail similar to a lizard, a large, round nose and wore an outfit complied of a lot of khaki. Almost like a-

"Yoshi!"

"No, really?" the Yoshi shouted back, and Snake recognized the voice as the warning female voice with the strange accent. Snake watched as the creature stuck its tongue out towards the mine that had been thrown, and wrapped it in the muscle. As soon as she had caught it, she had slung it back to the creature, and it could only watch as the mine blew up in its face, completely dissolving him and the cloud until it seemed he was barely there.

"Wow..." Snake could say no more than that.

"Damn Lakitus," the Yoshi muttered. "I hope you buffoons are okay; whoever the hell you are." As she turned her head, a friendly smile below her large green eyes betrayed her irritated words. She possessed short, spiked red hair that seemed not unlike a fire upon her head. On her khaki outfit, similar to safari gear, was a large pouch similar to a messenger bag.

Snake ventured to hold out a hand in amiable greeting, a grateful smile on his face. He normally wasn't so welcoming to new people, but he figured with such a warm smile, she couldn't be that bad. "Thank you, ma'am. Rest assured, I probably could have handled that... eventually."

"Of course you would," she rolled her eyes. "Name's Melanthe. Yours?"

"Call me Snake," was the reply as she shook his hand vigorously. "Strong grip," he noted.

She nodded. "Who's your friend?" she gestured towards the nervous man, who still seemed to have little grasp on the situation.

Otacon didn't venture to introduce himself. "Okay, just to... cement it in my head... I want to confirm, where are we, what the hell was that, and what the bloody hell were those skeleton birds trying to kill us?"

With a confounded look granted to Otacon, Melanthe asked Snake "He doesn't get out much, does he?" Snake tried to hold back an unprofessional snigger as she explained, "We're in Yoshi's Island, as your language would call it. In _Forasa Strakana._ Strawberry Forest. Welcome and enjoy the pool." She added dryly.

Snake raised his eyebrow and quipped "I don't believe we're in Kansas anymore, Toto."

"Understatement," Otacon took a deep breath, "of the fucking millenium."

**A/N Another serial fic! You may now shoot me! **

**Bah, I hope you enjoy this anyways. Surprisingly easy to write, and fun as well. I hope I don't have Snake or Otacon too OOC in regards to fear; I'm trying to bring reactions of a whole freaky new world from the both of them. **

**Anyway, fun backstory that is probably far and away from anything else in this section! I mean... it's freaking Snake and Yoshi. That's...**

**-one search later-**

**not the first time anyone's done this. Okay, that was... yeah, I don't even. But it's not this. Not trying to be all bragging and everything, I swear I'm not. But I don't really know if there's been a fic remote to this... and that makes me excited. **

**Anyway, enough singing my praises by accident! **

**So, anyway, I've been unfortunate enough to have troubles accessing some aspects of my account. Damn. So, from the looks of it, it's the damn computer and I'm going to try another location to publish this (the library). If you're reading this, FanfictioNation, It worked. If not... you're not reading this. **

**This does mean that things will churn out slower, and in chunks, possibly. It also means that _My Life in 100 Words _will be delayed for awhile, and that 'my' contest (note the quotations that say that it is not just mine) may be under Araceli L, Kattheamazing, or MouseMaster42's profile. Be vigilant, be brave. Or something.**

**So, yeah, this actually WAS my 20th fic! False alarms over! 20th fic! Confetti!**

**So, it's only been 2-3 weeks since my 10th fic (fear me) so I'm not gonna make another dedication story because... it'd be identical to Audience. O.o But I will be working on a cool list of the top 12-15 fics I've ever read- if you're reading this, it's probable that you'll be on there because I've a) probably been a big fan of yours which led you here, b) ...yeah, that's the real reason. It'll give some press to the little knowns, past legends, and the other sections I've drawn influence from! **

**Until then, a rough don't really believe this schedule to keep me on track! Safe to say I'll be writing a lot of chapter fics and less oneshots! A priority schedule!**

**Super Smash Bros Commission- This is perhaps one of my most followed topics, and I have a time liability to it more, so it is definitely up top, and I am partway through my newest oneshot for it.**

**Down To Earth- Though this story has a small following in the Mario section, it is perhaps my biggest Summer undertaking, and therefore requires more work.**

**Audience-An Artist's Story- This is perhaps my most important work; however, there will be much fewer chapters, and it takes me awhile to figure them out, so yeah, it'll easily be done soon enough.**

**Stranger in a Strange Land- will be updated regularly; this is, however, still a work in progress. I'm surprised at how speedily I've conducted a full plot to this story, but I've got things to plan in conducting it, so it may take longer to get the wheels going.**

**Possible future uptakings- I have two projects barely started- a four chapter romance fic with an idea I've been working on bit by bit involving a love/hate relationship (literally) and what would be perhaps my big novel idea influenced by a couple of elements in Strings. I have yet to confirm if I should work on either one, but if I do, it will be added accordingly.**

**Oneshots- the thing about these is I NEVER truly sit down and plan them, they just pop up and I go with it. Hell, I do that with most stories, but these will usually, as always, start and end in a day or two. **

**So, anway- long-arse update aside, that's Stranger in a Strange Land! Look out for more... stuff... yeah... hehe...**

**Bai!**

**MoD**

**P.S. Paper Towns. Read it. It is perhaps my favorite book ever. Margo Roth Spiegelman FTW.**


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